Posts Tagged ‘James Conlon’

VIVA VERDI

Thursday, October 10th, 2013

By James Conlon Today the world is marking the two-hundredth birthday of Giuseppe Verdi. It started already last night (he may have possibly been born in the evening of October 9). In either case, it really has been going on all year, and well it should. Verdi has been with me my entire life, since […]

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BACK TO WORK

Tuesday, September 17th, 2013

By James Conlon Done! My convalescence officially came to an end last Thursday when I started rehearsing Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Metropolitan Opera. Having recently come through surgery to correct damage from repeated bouts of diverticulitis, the fragility of life is on my mind. In general, I write rarely about myself […]

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BRUNO BARTOLETTI

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

By James Conlon Several great classical musicians have passed away in recent months.  Van Cliburn, Henri Dutilleux and Sir Colin Davis have each left an enormous mark on our world, and their passing, in keeping with their international status, has been rightly observed on several continents. Today I offer a personal homage to the conductor […]

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THE REGENERATION GAP

Tuesday, February 19th, 2013

By James Conlon A few months ago I wrote about two extraordinary projects in Rome that introduce children, from five to eighteen years of age, to opera. Performances of The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni were presented to thousands of young people by two completely separate entities:  the Rome Opera and the Tito Gobbi Foundation. […]

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Cavalleria Rusticana: Easter in Rome

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

“There is no disputing taste,” “fashions change,” “to each his own,” and “vive la difference.” Certain pieces come in and out of the classical music repertory, while others never get a foothold; still others seem omnipresent. Classical music institutions today have to grapple with balancing repertory over the course of years, to make sure everything that […]

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Charles Anthony, No Unsung Hero

Monday, February 27th, 2012

by James Conlon On February 15, one of the great men of opera passed away. Charles Anthony will be long remembered for the stunning statistics of his career at the Metropolitan Opera: 2,928 performances of 111 roles in 69 operas in 57 years. He appeared there more than any other artist in the Met’s history. […]

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A Peculiarly American Paradox

Monday, January 30th, 2012

by James Conlon Gore Vidal once observed that at a certain age writers turn to politics or alcohol. I am a musician and am turning to neither, but in recent years have found, conversely, an increasing satisfaction through writing. For that reason I welcomed the invitation from MusicalAmerica.com to write a blog on a somewhat regular […]

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